Redeemed villainess Maria Gallego
Maria Gallego (Leonor Varela) is a villainess (redeemed) from "Salvage & Reclamation", episode 1.07 of Fox's Human Target (airdate March 10, 2010). She was the former head of a brigade of soldiers in South America and the former lover of series protagonist Christopher Chance, who she worked alongside before he abruptly left.
The episode's events had Chance returning to South America, having been called by Maria asking him to help rescue archaeologist, Professor Doug Slocombe, who was being held captive by ruthless bounty hunter Bertram. Doug had unearthed the wreckage of the plane crash that killed President Juan Saldovar as he was attempting to flee the country with 40 million dollars worth of gold, and Bertram and his henchmen were looking to retrieve the gold and sell it to the highest bidder.
After arriving in South America and rescuing Doug from Bertram's camp, Chance brought him to the bar Maria worked at, where Maria initially appeared happy to see Chance after so long and greeted him with a kiss. However, shortly afterwards, Maria revealed her true intentions by having several armed men surround Chance and Doug, with Chance realizing why Maria had called him: to bring Doug to her so she could use him to take the gold for herself and her army. In response to Maria's treachery, Chance proclaimed that he'd saved Maria from bad situations multiple times when they previously worked together (a claim Maria refuted) and accused Maria of betraying him out of anger at him for leaving her; an accusation Maria responded to by striking Chance. Shortly afterwards, however, Bertram and his henchmen arrived in search of Doug and Chance, leading Maria to flee with Chance and Doug.
Begrudgingly, Maria agreed to help Chance and Doug reach the air field her soldiers used to use to transport supplies in order to escape--on the agreement that he tell her where the gold was in return. Maria also warned Chance ahead of time that the soldiers they used to fight with were now drug runners, and that she would kill him if she sensed he was trying to double cross her. As the trio evaded Bertram and his men and reached the air field, Maria and Chance began to tentatively rekindle their mutual attraction for one another, while also reminiscining about their past relationship. When they reached the air field and Chance attempted to give Maria the coordinates to the plane containing Saldovar's stolen gold, Maria revealed that she agreed with Doug's stance that the gold should be returned and revealed her true motivation for luring Chance back to South America: to confront him about why he left her, with Chance revealing that his deep feelings for Maria were what scared him into leaving. After sharing a passionate kiss with Maria, Chance and Doug managed to escape the island via a net attached to an airplane being commanded by Laverne Winston and Guerrero, with the episode's ending revealing that Chance had slipped the map with the coordinates to the gold in Maria's jacket, leaving a message on it telling her to only steal enough gold (5 million dollars worth) in order to repair her bar due to the damages left by Bertram and his crew.
Maria later appeared in 2.07, "A Problem Like Maria", which had Maria contacting Chance for help in rescuing her colleague Diego Garcia, who had been kidnapped by South American dictator Victor Escalante. While it initially appeared their plan was to rescue Diego from a party Victor was holding at his home, the truth was revealed once they had gotten the incapacitated "Diego" out of the house: Maria had tricked Chance and his team into helping her kidnap Victor's brother Julio, planning to use him as leverage to get Victor to trade Diego for Julio. While Chance and company (particularly Guerrero) were angry at Maria for her deceit, Maria won back the team's help when she revealed something else about her situation: Diego Garcia was her husband, and Victor was planning to kill him the next day. On the way to South America to rescue Diego (in addition to Guerrero and Ames, who had been kidnapped during a previous rescue attempt), Maria admitted to Chance that while she knew he wasn't right for her, she was still in love with him. After Diego was rescued, Maria and Chance shared an amicable goodbye, with Chance accepting Maria's relationship with Diego and Maria giving Chance a kiss on the cheek and telling him she'd miss him.
Trivia[]
- Leonor Varela also appeared on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD as the evil Camilla Reyes and Lethal Weapon as vengeful villainess Sofia Vasquez.
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